


Here In My Arms, You're Safe

by killerxcanaries



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking and Entering, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Movie Night, Nyctophobia, Protective Max, basically a whole lotta angst, fear of the dark, horror movies, zoey and max friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28822194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerxcanaries/pseuds/killerxcanaries
Summary: Zoey Clarke isn't afraid of many things, but two things that she's terrified of are horror movies, which Max seems to love, and the dark. When Zoey and Max have a movie night and Max decides to have them watch a horror movie together, Zoey didn't seem to think that things could manage to get any worse. Well, she was definitely wrong about that one.
Relationships: Zoey Clarke & Max Richman, Zoey Clarke/Max Richman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Here In My Arms, You're Safe

**Author's Note:**

> for this one max and zoey both like each other but don't know about the other person's feelings, so they're still only friends

"I honestly don't know how you keep getting me to watch these things with you," Zoey said as she cringed, her eyes poking out from between the fingers of her hands that were covering her face.

Movie night was one of Max and Zoey's traditions together, and Max had decided on a horror movie for that night's first film. Zoey was not the fondest of them, to say the least, but she still found herself reluctantly agreeing to sit beside her best friend as he occasionally put them on.

"Oh, come on, Zo, it's not that bad! Nobody's even died yet, and it's all fake anyway."

Max smiled as he looked over at the girl to his right, who was shaking her head.

"'Not that bad' is a song that is painful to listen to but is still kinda catchy, or an ugly shirt that someone else somehow manages to pull off. Watching a movie where most of the cast gets brutally murdered before the end? Even if it's _fake_ , it's still insane."

Max laughed, and Zoey smiled softly. While she and Max alternated on who picked the movies each week, she would gladly suffer through week after week of watching only horror movies if it meant that Max would be happy. One of the things that Zoey Clarke loved the most was getting to see the people around her happy, especially if she had something to do with their happiness. 

There wasn't too much that Zoey was afraid of, but horror movies were one of those things that were up there on her list. The number one spot was taken by her fear of the dark, though.

"I'm gonna go refill our drinks, don't get too scared without me," Max said playfully with a soft smirk, making Zoey roll her eyes.

"No promises."

Zoey watched as a man held up an axe over someone that was sleeping, and right as the man swung the axe down and was about to make contact with the body, the power shut off out of nowhere.

Zoey's breath caught in her throat as she instantly had her hands off of her face and wrapped around the legs that she brought up to her chest immediately, fear washing over her body.

"Zoey, I'm right here," Max called out as he turned the flashlight on his phone on, carrying the drinks and his phone towards the girl.

He was about to sit down next to his worried best friend when they heard someone jiggle the doorknob around a lot, a fear rising in Max's chest that he refused to let Zoey see.

"Zo, come here," Max whispered, grabbing Zoey's hands and quickly guiding her towards the bathroom.

Max locked the door behind them as Zoey started shaking, curling up into herself in the far corner of the bathtub. He moved the toilet paper rack in front of the door, just so that there was something else in the intruder's way if they needed it, and sat down on the closed toilet cover. Max looked over at his best friend, who was shaking as tears streamed down her face like a running faucet. He frowned, worried himself but knowing that she was even more worried and that Zoey's health and safety would always be the highest on his list of priorities.

"I'm here, Zo. You're safe, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you," Max whispered, slipping his hand into one of Zoey's just as the apartment door was kicked in and they both jumped.

"Max," Zoey whispered, her breath starting to get faster.

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here," he whispered back, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

He wanted more than anything to sit down next to her in that bathtub and wrap her in a tight hug, but also knew that he had to be in front of her in case their door was knocked down and he needed to move quickly to protect her.

Heavy footsteps could be heard as the person walked around the house, and Max could feel Zoey's hand shaking more and more as time went on. He wished he could help her calm down completely, but knew that there wasn't much he could do without making noise, which was killing him even more. They suddenly heard the shattering of glass and Zoey winced, covering her mouth with her other hand to conceal her quiet sound of surprise. As soon as it sounded like the person had left the house Max stood up, but Zoey reached up and pulled his arm back.

"Max," she whispered, and he knelt down in front of her.

"I think he's gone, I'm just going to go check."

"Max," Zoey whispered again, but Max slipped his hand out of hers.

"I'll be fine. Stay here."

"Be careful," she replied, and Max sighed softly.

"I will, I promise."

Max slowly unlocked the door and stepped outside, turning his flashlight on and examining the damage. He saw that their glasses of water were shattered into pieces, the living room chairs were flipped over, and almost everything that had previously been on top of something else was all over the floor as well. Max quickly made his way through every room and didn't see anyone else in the house, rushing back to the bathroom.

"Zo," he said softly, crouching down in front of the frightened girl. "They're gone, it's okay. Why don't we go back to my place instead and wait for the power to come back on?"

Zoey nodded slowly as she sniffled, tears still streaming down her face. Max wrapped his arms around the girl in a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'll come back here tomorrow and clean everything up, alright? Don't worry about it."

Zoey let out a soft sigh as Max slowly helped her stand up and step out of the bathtub, one arm wrapped around her waist to keep her shaking body upright. Tears still continued to stream down her face, and it pained Max to see how shaken up she was. He pulled out his phone and dialed 9-1-1, letting out a shaky breath before starting to report the break-in.

"Hey, Zoey, it's okay. The cops will be here soon, and as soon as we talk to them we can leave. I'm right here."

Zoey nodded slowly, and Max brought her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, shutting the door and locking it behind them in case the person decided to come back. He sat down on the bed and held her hands in his, squeezing them gently.

"Zoey, listen to my voice. I'm right here, and I'm not leaving your side again until this power comes back on, okay?"

"O-Okay," she whispered shakily.

"Can you tell me five things that you see?" he asked, trying to get her to slip out of the even-worse panic attack that she was close to having.

"Nothing, Max. I-I can't see anything, a-and-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay."

Max turned the flashlight on his phone back on and pointed it at his face, smiling softly.

"See? I'm right here."

He handed his phone to Zoey, who took it with shaking hands as she pointed it at different objects around the room and began to name them. Eventually she had gotten down to the point of naming one thing she could taste, which she had said was the faint taste of the buttery popcorn they were eating while watching the movie earlier.

Max wrapped his arms tightly around the still-shaken-up redhead, letting out a soft sigh.

"I'm so sorry all of this had to happen at the same time. You've been through enough lately, and you didn't deserve this on top of all of the stress you've already been under," Max said quietly, feeling Zoey's embrace become tighter.

"You're here with me, and that's all that matters," she whispered.

After the police had left the apartment, Max looked over at Zoey with a frown.

"Are you ready to get outta here for the night?" he asked softly, brushing his fingers over the top of her hand as she nodded slowly.

"Yeah," she whispered, the uneasy and anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach only continuing to rise as she used her phone's flashlight to walk and noticed just how bad the damage to her apartment actually was.

Max led Zoey out of the apartment and down the stairs with an arm wrapped around her waist for both stability and the feeling of closeness that they both needed at that point, if he was being completely honest with himself. The fact that Max was already a little late to movie night in the first place made him feel terrible, and the fact that if he had been any later or if Zoey hadn't asked Max to come over to watch movies in the first place meant that she could have been in that apartment alone when both the power went out and someone broke in? Yeah, it killed Max to even think about the girl that was both his best friend and the girl he was utterly and deeply in love with getting hurt.

After getting inside of Max's apartment he led her over to the couch, grabbing a lighter and a candle to illuminate the room. As soon as the light started to flicker he noticed Zoey flinch, looking around the room worriedly.

"Hey, Z, I'm right here. What's going on in that mind of yours?"

Zoey shrugged, pulling her hands into the sleeves of her pajama shirt.

"I uh...I-I hate the shadows that light makes when it's the only bright thing in the room.

Max frowned softly, nodding.

"Stay here, I'll be right back," he said softly, and she slowly nodded as he ran into the kitchen and grabbed as many candles as he could possibly find before going back to the living room.

Max lit each and every one, Zoey following him with her eyes as he placed them all around the room to make the room look as lit-up as it possibly could without any actual electricity.

"How's that?" he asked with a small smile as he placed the last one down and looked over towards the redhead, who shrugged.

Max walked over towards her and sat down beside her on the couch again, wrapping his arms around her as she curled up against his side, letting out a soft sigh.

"Max?" Zoey whispered, and Max looked down at the girl in his arms.

"Yeah, Zo?" he whispered back.

There was silence in the room for a few moments, and Max was about to pull back to make sure the girl hadn't fallen asleep on him before he heard her quiet answer.

"I'm scared."

"What are you scared about?" he asked gently, running a hand through the ginger curls that he could imagine himself combing his fingers through for the rest of his life, if ever actually given the chance.

"T-That they might go back," she whispered, and Max didn't need much explaining upon her point.

_Zoey was afraid that whoever had broken into her apartment hadn't gotten whatever they were looking for and would return back again when she was least expecting them to._

"Zoey?" Max asked, sitting up slightly.

"Hmm?" she hummed in reply.

"Why don't you move in with me, for right now at least? I know you love that place, but if it's only going to bring you more worry every time you step foot inside of it from now on, why don't you just stay here instead? If you really don't like staying here we can go out and find you a new apartment together whenever you want to, but if you do, you know you're always more than welcome here all the time."

"Max, I..." Zoey trailed off, looking down at her lap, and he placed a finger beneath her chin to tilt her head up gently and meet her eyes. "I can't do that to you, Max."

"You wouldn't be doing anything to me besides providing me with some company that I would very much enjoy a lot more than being alone in here all the time. You already come over a lot anyway whenever we hang out here, so you know where pretty much everything is. Plus, even if you do decide that you want to go back to that place and stay there again, you at least should give it some time to make sure nothing's going to happen again. I...I can't see you get hurt, Zoey."

Zoey wrapped her arms around Max, shaking her head.

"I won't, Max."

"Can you at least stay with me for a few nights, then? I'll run by your place tomorrow to clean everything up, and I'll make you a bag of clothes to bring back."

Zoey let a small smile form on her face, nodding.

"Thanks, Max," she said quietly, making the smile on Max's face get a little wider.

"Of course, Zo."

Out of nowhere the power turned back on, and Zoey immediately jumped back from out of the hug and looked around the room in search of anyone or anything out of the ordinary. Max slipped his hands into hers, pulling her gaze back towards him as he squeezed them gently.

"Everything's okay, I promise. Nobody is here besides the two of us, and you're safe here with me."

Zoey nodded slowly, letting out a yawn that she had tried her hardest to conceal but failed at doing. Max smiled softly, ruffling up her hair a little.

"Why don't we head to bed? It's been a long night, and I'm sure we could both use some sleep, huh?"

Zoey reluctantly nodded, not wanting to leave Max's side. She felt safer around him, and with the night that she had just gone through her thoughts were spiraling like crazy and she just wanted some safety and stability.

Max stood up from the couch and helped her up, walking with a hand on her lower back until they reached Max's bedroom.

"The bathroom's right through there, so you don't have to walk far. I'll be right on the couch if you need me, okay?" Max asked softly as he grabbed a pillow and a blanket from his closet.

He smiled softly and was about to leave when Zoey's worry started to bubble up again.

"Max?" he heard her call, immediately turning around.

"Yeah, Z?"

"C-Can you sleep in here with me tonight? I...I don't want to be alone."

Max nodded gently, putting the blanket and pillow in a pile on the floor before sitting down on the bed next to the redhead.

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor right next to you so you can see me?" he asked softly, and she shook her head, pulling down the blankets on the side of the bed that Max sleeps on.

They had spent quite a few movie nights in Max's room when they didn't want to sit on the couch, and Zoey just wanted his presence right next to her, occupying the same space he did while they were watching movies together.

Max got up and walked around the bed, sitting on the bed and pulling the covers over his waist as he sat down next to her. Max ran a hand through Zoey's hair, shaking his head.

"I promise you, Zoey Clarke, that if I am with you you will never get hurt. I'll always be there to protect you, no matter what."

Max laid down and expected Zoey to lie down on the opposite side of the bed, concealing his surprise when Zoey's body curled up against his side and an arm was thrown over his stomach. Max smiled softly, wishing that he could fall asleep like this with the girl every night but knowing it would probably never happen the way he wanted things to.

Max looked down and tucked a piece of Zoey's hair behind her ear, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead as he wrapped his arm around her back.

"I'm right here, Zo, and I promise I'm not going anywhere," he said softly.

"Hey Max?" Zoey asked quietly, and Max nodded. "Um, can we..." she trailed off before letting out a sigh. "No more horror movies for a while?"

Max's eyes went wide and he shook his head, already having known that they weren't going to be watching horror movies for a very long time before she even had to ask him.

"Of course not, Zo. My next choice can be a musical so that you can learn some more showtunes," he said with a soft smile that the redhead reciprocated before they both eventually dozed off.


End file.
